During the late 1920s the German Dornier Metallbauten set up a subsidiary at Altenrhein in Switzerland to build heavy aircraft expressly forbidden under the terms of the Versailles Treaty. The Do P had four engines, the Do Y three, and the Do F was a large twin. All were described as freighters, but their suitability as bombers was obvious. In late 1932 it was boldly decided to put the F into production at the German factory at Friedrichshafen, the designation being changed to Do 11.

The Do 11 had a slim light-alloy fuselage, high-mounted metal wing with fabric covering carrying two 484.4kW Siemens Sh 22B engines (derived from the Bristol Jupiter), and a quaint retractable landing gear whose vertical main legs were laboriously cranked inwards along the inner wing until the large wheels lay flat inside the nacelles. There was obvious provision for a bomb bay and three gun positions. The first customer was the German State Railways which under the cover of a freight service actually enabled the embryo Luftwaffe to begin training future bomber crews.

It had been planned to deliver 372 Do 11 in 1934 but delays, plus grossly unpleasant handling and structural qualities, led to the substitution first of the short-span Do 11D and then the Do 13 with 559kW BMW VI water-cooled engines and fixed (often spatted) landing gear. At least 77 Do 11D were delivered, some later being passed on to another clandestine air force, that of Bulgaria. The Do 13 was wholly unacceptable, but in September 1934 testing began of a completely redesigned machine called Do 13e with stronger airframe, Junkers double-wing flaps and ailerons and many other changes. To erase the reputation of its forbear this was redesignated Do 23 and in March 1935 production restarted of Do 23F bombers.

No attempt was made to disguise the function of the bomber: the fuselage having a glazed nose for visual aiming of the 1,000kg bomb load housed in vertical cells in the fuselage, and nose, mid-upper and rear ventral positions each being provided with a 7.92mm MG 15 machine-gun. After building a small number the Dornier plant switched to the Do 23G with the BMW VIU engine cooled by ethylene-glycol. By late 1935 more than 200 had been delivered and these equipped the first five named Fliegergruppen - although about two-thirds of their strength comprised the distinctly preferable Ju 52/3m. Although it played a major part in the formation of the Luftwaffe and continued to the end of World War II to serve in training, trials and research roles, the Dornier Do 23 was not much better than its disappointing predecessors

Specification

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CREW

4

ENGINE

2 x BMW VIU, 540kW

WEIGHTS

Take-off weight

8750-9200 kg

19291 - 20283 lb

Empty weight

3150 kg

6945 lb

DIMENSIONS

Wingspan

25.6 m

84 ft 0 in

Length

18.8 m

62 ft 8 in

Height

5.4 m

18 ft 9 in

Wing area

108.0 m2

1162.50 sq ft

PERFORMANCE

Max. speed

260 km/h

162 mph

Cruise speed

210 km/h

130 mph

Ceiling

4000 m

13100 ft

Range w/max.fuel

1200 km

746 miles

ARMAMENT

3 machine-guns, 1000kg of bombs

3-View

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A three-view drawing of Do 11 (592 x 780)

Comments

bob, 24.11.2012

rubish

goutou, 20.06.2011

The kit can be completed into Royal Bulgarian Air Force markings. I can send a picture of the completed model if asked.

, 20.06.2011

Dornier Do 11 / Do 13 / Do 231934

wlkriessmann, 24.09.2010

Quite a different story about the Do 17, the flying pencil . That aircraft I liked right from my first start,May 6th 1940 -(DD+MB) at airfield Kolberg/Ostsee to July 2nd 1941, at the airfield Berlin -Doeberitz,Beautifull at lowlevel hoping .wlkover

wlkriessmann, 24.09.2010

Quite a different story about the Do 17, the flying pencil . That aircraft I liked right from my first start,May 6th 1940 -(DD+MB) at airfield Kolberg/Ostsee to July 2nd 1941, at the airfield Berlin -Doeberitz,Beautifull at lowlevel hoping .wlkover

wlkriessmann, 24.09.2010

What a monster! Believe it or not but on April the5th 1940 I took a few rounds with the Do 23 AY+IF at the airfield Pinnow/Pommerania ( C Schule Kolberg)

wlkriessmann, 24.09.2010

What a monster! Believe it or not but on April the5th 1940 I took a few rounds with the Do 23 AY+IF at the airfield Pinnow/Pommerania ( C Schule Kolberg)

Barry, 15.09.2010

The Do 11 delivered to the Bulgarians flew alongside later Luftwaffe bombers on the Eastern Front in 1941.

Geir J. Valla, 31.10.2008

Hello ! I have parts from a Dornier 23 up here i Northern Norway,but I can`t find any lists of planes that came here in 1940 - 45. Do anyone have a list over where theese planes used ?

The Peter, 01.03.2008

This bomber is a first bombor in Bulgarian airforce 1939-1945.

Carmel.John Attard, 26.12.2006

Do-11.This aircraft can be built to a scale of 1/72 into a nice bomber using the Airmodel Do-23 vac-form kit with scratch built radial engines for the Do-11,modified retracticable undercarriage and modified larger wings at the trailing edge area.The kit can be completed into Royal Bulgarian Air Force markings. I can send a picture of the completed model if asked.